Tag: Climate Change

How More Extreme Heatwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure

How More Extreme Heatwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure

How More Extreme Heatwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure

10/24/18

“How will transportation infrastructure be harmed by more extreme heat waves?”

 

With the ascent of more extreme temperatures, heatwaves will more frequent and more deadly. This will affect all sectors of critical infrastructure systems, transportation being one of them. With these new temperatures, railroads will buckle, cement will be deformed, and transit schedules will be vastly transformed. This is How More Extreme Heatwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure. 

 

Image credit https://www.ucsusa.org

Why The Grid Needs to be Repaired to Ensure Climate Change Resilience

Why The Grid Needs to be Repaired to Ensure Climate Change Resilience

Why The Grid Needs to be Repaired to Ensure Climate Change Resilience

10/23/18

“Why can’t we truly have a resilient grid until repairs are made?”

 

With the ascent of global temperature change, the grid will need to adapt to ensure proper resilience. However, to building against higher temperatures and more extreme weather events will require much more than putting more batteries on the main grid. The current components of the grid will also need to be repaired since much of it has already run its life cycle. As a result, The Grid Needs to be Repaired to Ensure Climate Change Resilience.

 

Image credit spectrum.ieee.org

How Climate-Induced Coastal Flooding Will Harm Power Generation

How Climate-Induced Coastal Flooding Will Harm Power Generation

How Climate-Induced Coastal Flooding Will Harm Power Generation

10/20/18

“How will coastal floods make worse by climate change harm power generation?”

 

As the average temperature of the Earth rises, so will its sea-levels. This will spell major trouble for areas with large amounts of coastal power generation, as they may soon become flooded. As many as 100 of such facilities in the US are at risk for this phenomenon. Passive sea level rises will not be the only problem facing generation facilities, but also climate exacerbated storms could rip apart infrastructure in the same way as Fukushima. This is How Climate-Induced Coastal Flooding Will Harm Power Generation.

How Climate Change Will Exacerbate Fires

How Climate Change Will Exacerbate Fires

How Climate Change Will Exacerbate Fires

10/19/18

“How will Climate Change make fires worse?”

 

As more and more greenhouse gasses are sent into the atmosphere, the Earth’s climate will become more and more extreme. Dry areas such as California, Portugal, Palestine, Israel, and Punjab are becoming drier with each passing year. This will lead to a greater risk of not only fires breaking out but also makes them more difficult to control due to a lack of moisture. This is just a small example of How Climate Change Will Exacerbate Fires.

The Port of Long Beach is Getting a Microgrid

The Port of Long Beach is Getting a Microgrid

The Port of Long Beach is Getting a Microgrid

10/12/18

“How is the port of Long Beach becoming more sustainable?”

 

Big news everyone! The Port of Long Beach, one of the largest in the United States and right by my hometown of Los Angeles, is receiving a big upgrade. Specifically, it will soon be receiving a brand new microgrid designed by the world famous Schneider Electric! This project, consisting of a 300-kW solar array, a 250-kW microgrid-extending mobile battery energy, A 500-kW diesel generator, and a plethora of power monitoring and control technologies, which go towards making the port resilient in the face of a power outage and achieving its goal of becoming a net-zero green port. All I can say is that I am super stoked that The Port of Long Beach is Getting a Microgrid.

 

Image credit http://pacifictycoon.info

 

How Microgrids will Help Rural and Remote Communities

How Microgrids will Help Rural and Remote Communities

How Microgrids will Help Rural and Remote Communities

10/08/18

“How will Microgrids be useful for rural and isolated communities?”

 

Traditional power transmission infrastructure is not beneficial for rural and remote communities. Long power lines from centralized generation sources are prone to failure and are expensive to maintain. Plus, due to their limited lifespan, they will have to be replaced which can greatly drive up costs!

To solve this, we need to completely rethink how we transmit electricity. One possible solution is to implement microgrids with distributed energy resources. This will take away the need for complicated transmission, and can enable grid independence. This is How Microgrids will Help Rural and Remote Communities.

 

Image credit: smedia2.intoday.in

Stormwater Infrastructure

Stormwater Infrastructure

Stormwater Infrastructure

10/07/18

“How can we deal with stormwater runoff using our infrastructure?”

 

Stormwater runoff poses a massive problem for communities all around the world. To solve this, these same groups can build Stormwater Infrastructure to equip them with the necessary resilience to deal with it. This can include rainwater collection, green roofs, and vegetation-rich areas.

 

Photo credit Phillywatersheds

Why Stormwater Infrastructure in the US Needs to be Upgraded for Resiliency

Why Stormwater Infrastructure in the US Needs to be Upgraded for Resiliency

Why Stormwater Infrastructure in the US Needs to be Upgraded for Resiliency

10/06/18

“Why does the US need to upgrade its stormwater infrastructure?”

 

US stormwater infrastructure is in a state of trouble. Many of the systems in place were designed a hundred years ago, long before the greenhouse effect was even an idea. As a result, with the warming climate, air now can hold more water on average, leading to heavier rainfall that can overwhelm stormwater infrastructure. Since the much of the current infrastructure does not hold up, Stormwater Infrastructure in the US Needs to be Upgraded for Resiliency.

 

Image credit toccoainc.com

How Hurricane Florence will Test Solar Resilience

How Hurricane Florence will Test Solar Resilience

How Hurricane Florence will Test Solar Resilience

09/16/18

“How will Hurricane Florence serve as a test-case for solar resilience?”

 

Hurricane Florence is about to descend into the U.S State of North Carolina, which has the second highest amount of solar energy capacity in the nation. During this time we will be able to see firsthand how solar PV systems will respond to a hurricane and their level of resilience.

 

Photo credit Renewable Energy World